Industrial IoT start-up Konux receives £5m in Series A funding

Industrial IoT start-up KONUX has raised over £5 million in Series A funding in order to begin developing smart sensors for industry use.

This funding will allow KONUX to “expand its product platform, roll out products in volume for new and existing customers and establish [the company as a leader] in machine insights.”

Andreas Kunze, CEO of the Industrial IoT start-up, said in a statement: “Industrial companies are facing increasing challenges related to machine efficiency and maintenance expenses. We believe the real impact and the toughest challenges of IoT are in the industrial world. We have designed solutions that allow for complete digitalization of manual measurements and comprehensive sensor data tracking and analytics, with the ultimate goal to shift from unplanned maintenance to predictive maintenance.”

This start-up is just one in an ever expanding list of those creating IoT products intended for industrial use.

Some people, including some in the German government, believe that this increase in Industrial IoT may be the beginning of a fourth industrial revolution – similar to advances made when industries began using computers to programme certain processes.

Industrial IoT start-up gets German backing

The funding for these sensors has come from MIG, a German industrial venture capital investor; New Enterprise Associates; Andy Bechtolsheim, who was also one of the major investors in Google; UnternehmerTUM; Warren Weiss; and Founder.org

KONUX already has customers such as Deutsche Bahn, a leader in passenger logistics, and they have worked together in order to digitise Deutsche Bahn’s infrastructure, reduce costs, and increase safety.

Greg Papadopoulos, venture partner at NEA and former CTO at SUN Microsystems said: “KONUX has tremendous experience with sensor solutions in industrial settings and can provide unique insights by combining sensors with cloud-enabled analytics. Other solutions tend to focus on either the analytics layer or the manufacturing of sensor components; KONUX’s vertical approach and use of AI are unique differentiators.”